The Hardest Thing To Say Is Goodbye
by Portak
Summary: Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo have finally conquered the ultimate evil, Giygas. Once the four kids return to Saturn Valley, they realize that it's time to say goodbye. but this final goodbye is a lot harder than they all expected.


This is my first Earthbound/Mother 2 fanfiction! i hope you enjoy reading this. comments and reviews are very well appreciated

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The darkness swirled around us, as if it was dying. But everyone knows darkness cannot die, it can only be overcome by light. There was a mysterious dark figure looming in the darkness. It was thrashing back and forth, trying to desperately grasp onto something. It was making high pitch noises as it moved back and forth. Such noises were unexplainable, for no one knew how to explain it. There all of a sudden the figure in the dark disappeared, right through the darkness consuming it. A faint melody could be heard, I don't know if it was just our imagination or if it was actually there. It sounded very familiar; as if it were something they have all heard before. But it didn't matter. It was all over now.

Taking a look around you saw three robots alongside you. These robots were expressionless, because they had no human face. They were just in fact robots that showed no emotion. As if it all had happened at once, one by one, each robot body fell limp on the ground as a bright light came out of each metal scrap. These lights traveled together once they were all in line. As if they were so use to being together that the thought of travel alone was peculiar. The bright lights were going back home, back to the present time. They were looking for their human bodies, not those robotic pieces of metal they were just in.

They actually had no idea if they would find their true human bodies, but as long as they were together, I don't think it mattered. Each one of them had grown so much attached the other person that the thought of saying goodbye was heartbreaking. None of them really wanted to think about leaving one another. But fortunately enough they found where their human bodies laid and one by one entered them. It didn't hurt, going back into their real bodies, that is. It actually felt quite….Refreshing. Knowing that you are back where you belong. I opened my eyes to see the sunlight, it's been the first time in a while that I saw sunlight and it hurt a little. As I began to sit up, I saw the others. They were looking at themselves, astonished that they made it back in one piece. It was nice to see such delighted in their faces, for they each had just overcome the nightmare that has been haunting all of them.

Poo was the first to stand up, his eyes shown a hint of contentment along with relief. The muscles in his face relaxed now, he looked like a whole new person. Jeff was still sitting on the ground, but he looked as glad as Poo did. Gently he took of his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt, although his shirt wasn't the cleanest. But I don't think he really cared at all. His body did not seem as tense as he was when they began the journey. After his glasses were clean and back on his face, he blinked a few times then stood next to Poo. I then turned to Paula. She was brushing the dirt and dust off of her dress. But there was something different about her. Unlike the others she had the biggest grin on her face. Paula turned her head towards my direction; she launched herself forward and gave me the biggest hug. Her giggles were also nice to hear, she sounded so happy. Before I knew it Jeff and Poo joined in on the hug. We were all there, hugging each other and laughing. They were all just so happy. It was over, the fight was over.

The race against time to save the world was over. And they would return to their normal lives…. The thought struck Ness. He had never thought about it before. The fact that now that it is all over, they would have to go home. There was nothing wrong with being home but… he had gotten so used to being with Paula, Jeff and Poo. He had been so accustomed to sleeping in hotel rooms and always being on the run. It was… depressing. Ness knew that the war against Giygas was no walk in the park. But for some odd reason he was upset it was over. Besides the battles, the wounds and the bickering amongst each other; it was going to be sad to say goodbye. It was the final goodbye after all. They never knew if they were going to meet again.

Everyone finally let go, after clinging on to each other for a solid minute or two. His friends were all smiling, but he knew that behind those smiles were suppressing the sadness. They all knew it was coming, the final goodbye. Ness looked over at Paula; she had the brightest smile of all. Or so he thought. Unexpectedly tears began streaming down her face. Her smile was still there, but she could not hold back the tears. it was too overwhelming for her.

"So that's it then" she spoke in between sobs, "our journey…. It's over"

"Yes I believe it is." Poo replied, you could hear the trace of sadness in his voice as well.

Paula didn't speak; there was no need for her to speak. We all understood what she was feeling; we were all feeling the same thing.

Jeff cleared his throat and spoke next "we will meet again, right?" there it was again, the fear of saying goodbye forever. After all they had become so close on their journey. Ness has been pondering the same thought.

"Jeff what are you talking about of course we will see each other again. I refuse to say my final goodbye to all of you" Paula replied, she was starting to collect herself now.

"We will meet again, whether it's tomorrow or a year from now. I promise all of you that we will see each other again" Ness finally added to the conversation. But deep down Ness did not know if they really would see his friends again. He just didn't want them to worry anymore.

They were silent for a moment. No one wanted to say anything, as if they were trying to soak up these last minutes with each other as they possibly could.

It was Poo that broke the silence. "I am afraid to say but I must get back home to Dalaam" his voice shuddered. The glint of happiness in his eyes was now gone, it was replaced with something that could not be fully recognized.

"It was great to have you on this journey with us Poo. You were a great help to all of us" Ness replied. He patted Poo on the shoulder.

"It was great to meet you all. I am highly pleased I have contributed to this journey. But we must move on, go our separate ways. But I shall stay in contact with you all" Poo remarked. Everyone smiled at him, giving him approval of what he said.

"Ness before I go I must show you something. I learned this trick when I was very young and I assume you would like to see it. It is called PSI Farewell" as he said that, he spun in a circle very fast and yelled the words "farewell" into the wind. And just like that he was gone.

Jeff was the next person in the group to speak, "I think I ought to be going as well. I have learned so much from our journey. It was a real great time, it really was. But we can't do this forever. I have plans, big plans! So I have decided to be with Doctor Andonu- I mean my father" Paula smiled at that sentence. Jeff had never called Doctor Andonuts his father through the whole journey. Ness could already see the change this journey made of his friends.

Jeff moved away from the group of friends and stood beside his father. They both looked at each other, both extremely pleased. And if Ness was not mistaken, he thought he saw some tears in Doctor Andonuts's eyes.

There was another long pause of silence. Ness knew what was coming next. It was Paula's turn next to say goodbye. There was a strange feeling down in his stomach. The other goodbyes did not turn out to be so bad. But this one…. This one was going to be the hardest of them all.

Paula turned to Ness now; she looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were a little puffy and red, probably from all of the tears she had been crying. "Ness… could you walk me home?" she requested. The answer was obvious but Paula felt the need to ask it anyway. Ness didn't say anything; he just gave her a slight nod. She tilted her head and smiled, her little blond curls shifted as her moved her head.

The two of them started off, to bring Paula back home to Twoson. They waved goodbye to Jeff, Doctor Andonuts, Apple Kid and Mr. Saturn. Ness took the lead, Paula walked beside him this time. She normally walked behind him. But this time was different. It was there last 'journey' together so to speak.

Neither of them said anything, there was nothing to be said. They enjoyed the silence as they walked side by side through Threed. Paula finally spoke up as they approached the tunnel that lead to Twoson.

"Ness there is something I want to tell you when we get to my house" you did not respond, there was no need for a response.

The tunnel to Twoson seemed a lot shorter than it was in the beginning. They pasted Apple Kid and Orange Kid's house. They walked by some villagers who waved hello to them. The atmosphere in Twoson was a lot happier, which was a wonderful thing. They then finally reached Paula's house, the Polestar School. Her parents worked there but her house was connected to the school. She walked ahead of Ness and stopped on her front door. She looked up at Ness and smiled once more.

"You know Ness, I forgot what I was going to tell you" she spoke with some giggles. Something was off. Paula knew actually what she wanted to say, the words were on her tongue. But it wasn't the right time, saying those words would make the goodbye even harder.

"So this is goodbye then?" she gulped. There was so many emotions in her words, too many to identify.

"as much as i hate to admit it but yeah... this is goodbye, Paula." Ness's voice spoke. Her voice wasn't the only one with mixed emotions hiding in it. It was very likely they were feeling the same thing, but they couldn't say it. the time just wasn't right.

"Well thank you Ness. This journey was fun and exciting. I enjoyed going around and saving the world with you, Jeff and Poo. You rescued me when we first met, I will never forget that." Her voice rang in his ears, "Maybe someday I will walk over to Onett and we can hang out for a day. and we could gather Poo and Jeff up too and just catch up on things"

"That sounds like a plan Paula" Ness agreed. He shot her a smile.

"Alright well…. Goodbye" she said as she turned around and went into her house. As she did so, Ness thought he heard a voice. A very faint voice it was. And he was sure Paula spoke these words.

"This goodbye is the hardest of them all"

When the front door to the Polestar School was shut, Ness turned away and started off towards Onett.

Once back in Onett, he stopped to take a look at his hometown. It was just the way he left it, although it was much…..Brighter than he remembered. People were smiling bigger; the town's mood was just livelier than normal. But that was a good thing

Ness went straight for his home. He couldn't wait to see his mother. It had been too long, so long that he didn't remember the last time he actually saw her. The door cricked as he opened it. his mother stood in the kitchen looking at him in the doorway. She didn't say anything, because her smile on her face said it all. She went over and hugged Ness.

"I'm very proud of you, son. You did well" she whispered. Ness smiled and hugged her back. it was great to be home. They let go and his mother looked at him. Her face was filled with so much joy that it looked as if she were to burst.

"come now Ness this man came by the house earlier and dropped something off for you" Ness's mother spoke as she closed the door, "it seems like it's a book filled with photographs"

Ness's heart leaped at the sound of her words. The man that took photos of him and his friends while they were on their journey, he had been waiting to see those.

"Alright coming mother" he said as he took his backpack off. It was still full of all of his stuff from the journey. But he would empty it later. Right now he wanted to enjoy being home again. This was his life he had come back to. This is the world he had just saved.


End file.
